


Explaining a Name

by HanaHimus



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: if...
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Gen, Pop Culture, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 12:11:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16723149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaHimus/pseuds/HanaHimus
Summary: Akira hadn’t expected to have to explain anything related to his name or anything human pop culture to demons, but here he was.[Semi-connected toAkiraandNot Just Amon]





	Explaining a Name

**Author's Note:**

> More fic, more Akira. Shocking, I know.

Akira hadn’t expected to have to explain anything related to his name or anything human pop culture to demons, but here he was. Tamaki was gone, Akira staying behind in Nomos… He’d thought it would be time to adjust to living as a demon (seeing as he wouldn’t fit in anywhere in the human world), but…

Seemed like that wasn’t going to be the case. After having let it slip to Sebek, Hathor, and Thoth much earlier in their journey that he wasn’t just Amon, they had become curious. Well, curious and distrusting… Now that they’d taken care of Hazama, however, the distrust seemed to be fading.

That meant the curiosity was at an all-time high, though. And Akira was pretty sure trying to avoid answering their questions would be a bad idea.

“You said you’re also the human called Akira, right?” Hathor tilted her head to the side. “Don’t humans’ parents give them their names? Did yours ever explain why they called you Akira?”

“Uh…” He scratched his cheek. “I guess all humans get a name from their parents, or at least someone… But Akira isn’t the name mine gave me, it’s a name I gave myself.”

“Yourself?” Sebek spoke up. “I didn’t know humans can do that!”

“They can, sometimes. Not every human does it… Usually only humans who have… Issues with their original names.” He shrugged. “I had issues with mine, and I liked Akira better in the end, anyway.”

Thoth seemed to be on edge, as if Akira’s simple explanation didn’t fit quite right as far as he was concerned. Not shocking, stupid thing was always so paranoid about everything… “And how did you decide to call yourself that?”

Akira should’ve expected that, but it still caught him off guard and filled him with an indescribable amount of dread. How did one explain Devilman and how Akira came across it as a young boy to demons who likely didn’t have any clue about any of the things involved? He frankly wasn’t sure.

“There was a really popular manga… That got an anime and some other things. It was called Devilman and the main character was Akira. I wanted to be like him, so I… took the name for myself, too.”

“Is that so?” Hathor tilted her head to the side, curiosity shining in her eyes. “Tell us more, what was this Devilman about?”

Akira went silent for a moment before finally speaking up. “I’d rather not say.”

“You’re trying to avoid answering our questions?” Thoth scoffed, about ready to go off on a tirade, if Akira had to guess. “I should have known we couldn’t trust you! Now that our mutual enemy is gone, you’ll be the new enemy… Only none of us will grow in power like you did on our way here! It’s unfair--”

“It’s about a teenager named Akira who… Through some circumstances merges with a demon…” Akira spoke up, if only to get Thoth to silence himself. “A demon that just so happens to be that universe’s Amon… And he becomes Devilman…”

Silence fell over all of them, the demons all staring at him. This was somehow simultaneously worse and better than he had expected. What did he say now, though? God, it was hard to know… Would the demons make fun of him? Understand? Press farther?

“So… You said you wanted to be like this Akira when you took on the name, yes?” Sebek spoke up before Akira could try and salvage the conversation. “In a way, you got just that.”

Akira opened his mouth, then let it close. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“And how does that make you feel?” Hathor tilted her head to the side.

“Pretty good, all things considered…” Akira scratched his cheek. “There’s at least some pros along with the cons.”


End file.
